The International Ice Hockey Federation is canceling all of its January events because of the rise in COVID-19 cases and could announce the move as soon as Friday, sources told ESPN on Thursday night.
The cancellations include the 2022 U18 Women’s World Championships in Sweden, making it the second straight year the IIHF will not have staged the tournament.
The IIHF, meanwhile, held the 2021 U18 Men’s World Championships in Texas and has the 2022 U18 men’s event still scheduled for April in Germany as of now. The IIHF also has staged its U20 Men’s World Junior Championships in each of the past two seasons, including the 2022 tournament, which is just getting underway in Edmonton, Alberta. There is no women’s equivalent of the U20 tournament.
Federations began notifying players on Thursday, sources said.
The news upset many players, who believe the coronavirus pandemic has widened the gender gap in the sport and that the IIHF routinely prioritizes men’s programming over women’s.
The @IIHFHockey has prioritized/held top division mens events during the pandemic but the top division womens events – cancelled again. UNACCEPTABLE. Figure out how to safely play the U18 Worlds this season, just like the U18 men & #WorldJuniors. These players DESERVE to play too pic.twitter.com/kKmgErKetx
— Kendall Coyne Schofield (@KendallCoyne) December 24, 2021
Said Kendall Coyne Schofield on Twitter: “The IIHF has prioritized & held top division men’s events during the pandemic but the top division women’s events – cancelled – again. UNACCEPTABLE. Figure out how to safely play the U18 Worlds this season, just like the U18 men & #WorldJuniors. These players DESERVE to play too.”
“Embarrassing @iihfhockey,” U.S. Women’s National Team forward Abby Roque posted to her Instagram story on Thursday. “Fix this.”
Added Canadian national team member Erin Ambrose: “Why is it automatically a cancellation? We understand the concerns regarding health and safety but why is a postponement not considered for these women as the men’s tournaments continue without hesitation? #equalityinsport”
Some lower-tier men’s and women’s tournaments also are among the January cancellations.
Source: www.espn.com